14A - Halfway Reflection

1) What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?
I have developed the behavior of creating a schedule and sticking to it, as the assignments in this course are very strict on due dates and times, and they vary very much from the rest of my courses that I'm currently taking right now. I am always checking canvas to make sure of this as well.

2) Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?
I thought about once or twice to just not complete assignments if I felt like I couldn't finish them in time. What pulled me through is knowing the information and understanding I will get from completing the assignments. It is also easier to complete further assignments when you've completed past ones. I have definitely developed tenacity over the past couple months, but this isn't only in this course but others as well.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. Always checking Canvas and reminding yourself why you're enrolled in class in the first place, very much helps you foster the skills you need to stay on track. 
2. Try to make the assignments fun for yourself by placing importance on the information you're learning. 
3. Maybe you wish to be an entrepreneur, maybe you don't, but you will never be in the class again and never to complete these same activities again, so make the most of the opportunities you acquire just from being enrolled in the course. 

13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

1) Entrepreneur: Andrew Carnegie - David Nasaw

• What surprised me the most?

The most surprising thing I've learned about Andrew Carnegie is that he was such a poor boy when he was younger, and he was able to become the big sensation that he is known as today. 

• What about the entrepreneur did I most admire?

I mostly admired Andrew Carnegie for obtaining his wealth from the industry, but was still even after acquiring all this fame a philanthropist. This is admiring because he was able to achieve great riches and still have compassion for others, which is hard to come by.

• What about the entrepreneur did I least admire?

I least admired how it was questionable how he was able to obtain all of this power and become a villain in some circumstances in regards to business. But, it is important to remember where he came from and that he had to climb to get to where he got.

• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? What did he do about it?

Coming from a poor childhood, Carnegie faced adversity all his life because he was simply born into it. He watched his father struggle as a weaver and chose to rise from this and became a wealthy business man because of this adversity he faced. 

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Andrew Carnegie had to have competencies to get to where he was in his more professional and successful career. I noticed that he was particularly gifted with leadership skills, and management in "all walks of life."

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

One part of the reading that was confusing to me was his complete change in attitude and work altogether once he acquired his riches and became a philanthropist. This whole process seemed to be a little confusing as he changed from day to night. 

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would ask him what made him make such a drastic change? What was his dream all along?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I feel like Andrew Carnegie thought that hard work was essential in any work of entrepreneurship specifically. I share this opinion, and its obvious that he does too because he had to put in hard work to become as wealthy and successful as he became. 

12A - Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

1) Segment:

The people who participate in sports like football and are somewhat dangerous, those prone to concussions in daily life because of football. The product should be a silicon piece that can attach to existing safety helmets for shock resistance. 

2) Interviews:

• Male, 20-years-old, college student: This interviewee falls into the unmet-need category because he currently plays football for a recreational league and has had concussions in the past. It is dangerous for him to have another concussion, and if he has 3 concussions in a year, he isn't allowed to play football anymore. He plays often and has games both on season and off season for football, so this is a big need for him.
• Female, 40-years-old, parent: This interviewee falls into the unmet-need category because she is a parent to a child who is just starting to play football in a recreational league, and is extremely worried about him getting any head injuries. Her and her son have this unmet need most specifically due to the fact that he has a condition that makes him especially sensitive to head  injuries. 
• Male, 52-years-old, high school football coach: This interviewee falls into the unmet-need category because he is a high school football coach, responsible for a team of players and would like to ensure their safety. Not only is he concerned for the safety of his team, but if players continuously get concussions they will be taken out of playing and he can't afford to lose players either. This is true is many NFL teams as well. 

3) Information Search:

The very first thing that people in the unmet-need category do when they realize they have this need, is buy safety helmets that are said to be the best and most safe. They also will either get pulled out of sports or even just make an effort to play less. They will also make an effort to play more safely when they do happen to participate in the sport. They don't find these solutions to be 100% effective whatsoever. 

4) Findings of Search:

From the interviews, I learned that people of all different demographics suffer from or struggle with the idea of staying safe from concussions. Not only concussions, but many injuries from engaging in sport like football.  

5) Conclusions:

The issue of concussions and the whole idea of trying to be safe from them in more extreme sports, AND the fact that there is a wide variety of people who have this unmet-need, shows that there is an opportunity for a solutions for this need. The range of interviewees that I spoke to showed to me that this is a realistic opportunity. 

11A - Idea Napkin No. 1

Me:
I am Julia Herrmann, a 20-year-old college student at the University of Florida. I have had a variety of jobs in the food industry, and have acquired experience and skills from dealing with people on a daily basis. I have gained skills on the main concepts of customer service, teamwork, organization, and punctuality. My aspirations include being successful and financially comfortable, as well as doing something I enjoy as a career. If I were to start my business in which I was able to invent a football safety helmet to prevent concussions, I would contribute a lot of time and effort in my life to it. This is because I feel that it's an important innovation to introduce to the world of sports.

What I am offering to customers?:
I am offering to customers the idea of safety and comfortability within a somewhat unsafe, yet popular sport realm. I am offering ease to mind of parents with children involved in the sport, as well as the players themselves. I am offering a way for players to keep engaging in the sport they enjoy without having to worry about getting a concussion from it. The product is silicon padding to be placed on the outside of helmets to help with shock resistance when they bump helmets.

Who am I offering it to?:
I am offering this product to anybody involved in sports, it doesn't just have to be football. But, any sport in which an individual is at risk for bumping helmets or slamming helmets an help with a shock resistant technology. Mostly, this targets players, coaches, sports organizations and parents.

Why do they care?:
Customers will care about my product because the issue of concussions is a very wide-spread and well known problem. Not to mention, the effects of concussions can be deadly, and many people care about their health. Also, many people who are responsible for others (coaches, parents, etc.) will care because they're responsible for the health of these individuals as well.

What are my core competencies?
What I have that others don't have is the shock resistance technology. Many helmet brands and providers have 'safety' helmets that don't prevent the issues caused by concussions. My product is different because it takes an even bigger step in preventing this problem.

These elements definitely fit together, and aim towards helping my business in the long run if I can exercise the importance of each of these different aspects. The only aspect of my business concept that would be weak is the fact that its not exactly 100% shock proof or 100% concussion proof because there are other ways in which people can acquire concussions in sports, other than banging their heads together. But, the reason my product is better than the others is because it takes a bigger step towards that 100% proof.

10A - Elevator Pitch No. 1

9A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Who:
 Through my interviews, I was able to identify that there are individuals who believe that concussions in football are just part of the sport. These individuals strictly believed that if a person chooses to get involved in a particular sport, that they should face the consequences of playing that sport. There were also individuals that maybe were higher up (coaching staff) that weren't experiencing these conditions and consequences of concussion, so they really had no frame of reference, nor did they require the unmet need for themselves. I interviewed players as well and those who agreed with this mindset haven't actually had concussions themselves from the sport but may have suffered other injuries, they still believe that the protective gear they have is good enough. They especially referenced the sport of rugby, while similar they don't have any protective equipment. Some of these football players, who would benefit from this unmet need seem to truly not mind.

What:
There is a difference between the worry of just simply getting hurt in football and getting a concussion. When people think about getting hurt, they'll say they can get hurt all the time but its just the nature of the sport. When just 'getting hurt' or pulling a muscle the players are resilient and come back soon enough, but concussions can cause brain damage and that's where we would need to push the significance of the unmet need.

Why:
The unmet need isn't different for everyone outside the boundary than inside, but some. For those who are parents or players who've experienced concussion from the sport, they have a higher place on the need than coaches and players who haven't experienced concussion before. Also, people who know of the detrimental effects of the concussion become placed inside the boundary because they know the importance of this particular need.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Who: Players who've experienced are are close to those who've experienced concussion, parents of those of those who've experienced concussion, coaches who understand the significance for their players, etc.	Who: Players who maybe haven't experienced concussion in any sense, coaches who haven't experienced concussion, football fans who haven't experienced concussion.
What: Safer headgear in the sport of football to prevent concussions.	What: The need is not just getting hurt in the sport of football, the need is not in football but other sports.
Why: Concussions are very common, but while they're common they could be very detrimental or even deadly.	Why: Other sports like rugby are in more of a need for protective gear, they already have 'effective' enough gear for the players.  Getting hurt is normal in sports.

8A - Solving the Problem

Opportunity: 
 There is a very high amount of concussions that occur in the NFL, as well as everywhere where there is football: rec leagues, high schools, etc., and this is due to the issues of roughness in the sport, being paired with the inefficiency in safety helmets/gear.

Product/Service:
As it is difficult to completely change a decades old sport in terms of rules and roughness, it's not impossible to change the style or composition of safety gear and helmets for these players. A lot that has to do with getting a concussion in football has to do with the helmet-on-helmet contact and the backlash from it. If there were to be special padding on the outside of the helmets in the particular areas that this happens, this could work towards the prevention of concussions in the sport of football.

7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Preventing Concussions in Football Athletes (Helmets)

1) Identifying the...

who: the NFL as well as any football players.

what: there are very many cases of concussions while playing football, despite wearing helmets.

why: the composition and design of the helmets used today are not enough to prevent concussions.

2) Testing the...

who: everyone in my current 'who' shares the common need. this need branches out to anyone involved in the sport. 

what: considering all helmets are relatively the same, there aren't any boundaries to this need. it's actually true that the most 'protective' helmet wear even don't protect against concussion.

why: as this is a general need, the why is typically the same and doesn't contain many boundaries. it could be possible that people might need a helmet to prevent concussion because they've already had one, they could blame the helmets themselves, the manufacturers, or even the sport for being too rough. 

3) Interviews...

#1

My first interview was with my dad, who had played football his entire young life, has suffered some concussions in his life due to the sport and is an avid football fan. My dad believes that concussions are quite a problem in the football realm, especially the NFL where they play so many games in a year. My dad seems to believe that there should be a way to prevent this, but he's unsure if extra padding will prevent these problems from occurring. 

#2

My second interview was with a friend of mine, who currently plays club football and has not suffered any concussions himself, but has witnessed it before. He does not believe concussions in football are as reported as they should be, due to the fact that there are probably so many that actually happen. Since this is such a widespread issue, he believes that there should be some sort of change to the roughness of the sport, or an invention of some kind of shock resistant stuff for helmets to help.

#3

My third interview was with a team mom of a recreational football league. As she has seen time and time again concussions happen, even in younger children, she believes the sport is just too rough on the human body. There are many instances where she observed children's lives being taken because they got hit too hard during the sport. She is a true advocate for the change of the sport to make it less rough in order to stop this from happening, and doesn't believe there are any helmets that can help this from happening unless they were to come out with a new one. 

#4

My fourth interview was with another friend of mine who plays football in college. He himself has had a few concussions in his lifetime both from rugby and football. He believes that there is definitely a way to come out with technology that can help the force of blows to the head in the game. He doesn't think that we need to change the sport to make it less rough, we need better protective gear. He also doesn't seem to think that concussions are a big issue in sports, as they're so common. But, what he doesn't seem to realize is the lives this takes and dramatic effects it might have on your life. 

#5

My last interview was with my uncle, who played football in his younger years and is an avid coach and football fan. He has witnessed many concussions occur over the course of his life and coaching career in high schools. He believes that both should happen: they need to make the sport less rough and there should be a new helmet design. My uncle is still going through the effects of his concussion that he had and he thinks that football is very hard on the body in more ways than just the one. It's important to even think about the outside of helmets instead of just the insides. 

Summary:

Based off of my interviews, I now know that there are many lasting effects of a concussion on a person, and that they are even more common than I had though originally. There is definitely an opportunity to create a helmet device with shock resistant technology in order to help people prevent themselves form getting a concussion so that they don't have to worry about this during the game. I also learned that in order to make something shock-proof, we'd have to pay attention to the outsides of the helmets as well to relieve the impact as well as the damage to the brains of many football players. Although, I don't see anything changing about the sport and its roughness, as many don't wish to stray away from the original game. 

6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Economic Trend ~ America is Losing Global Influence
-where I found it:
 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/americas-global-influence-is-declining/568708/

-what leads me to believe that this info suggests an opportunity might exist:
we can learn from the mistakes made in the past, as well as being made in other countries that'll help the U.S. in preventing a decline in power.

-who I think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity: 
politicians and policy makers

-is the opportunity relatively easy or difficult to exploit? why?
this opportunity would be difficult to exploit because it calls for cooperation on a national level.

-why did I form the belief that an opportunity exists? is there something in experience that helped me find this opportunity?
I believe this opportunity exists because I have learned in history the fluctuation of money and power. With the right policies, there are ways to prevent downfall from the get-go, and move in the right direction.

Economic Trend ~ Baby Boomer Retirement Crisis
-where I found it: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032216/are-we-baby-boomer-retirement-crisis.asp

-what leads me to believe that this info suggests an opportunity might exist:
there are many who are already in retirement, so there is a chance that there will be enough resources for others with the right changes.

-who I think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity:
retirees from the baby boomer era and people today who are younger and saving for retirement

-is the opportunity relatively easy or difficult to exploit? why?
relatively easy due to the growing population and people who need jobs can take the older generations jobs

-why did I form the belief that an opportunity exists? is there something in experience that helped me find this opportunity?
this is something going on in 2020, and as a young person I think it's important to touch on these issues to save us from this same problem later on.

Regulatory Change ~ Data and Emerging Technologies are Evolving
-where I found it:
https://www.ey.com/en_us/banking-capital-markets/four-major-themes-dominating-the-regulatory-landscape-in-2020

-what leads me to believe that this info suggests an opportunity might exist:
There is existing risk management and governing practices that could be enhanced to make it all more efficient.

-who I think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity:
people who use technology, tech providers

-is the opportunity relatively easy or difficult to exploit? why?
relatively difficult, technology is always changing and privacy is becoming more and more of an issue as it does

-why did I form the belief that an opportunity exists? is there something in experience that helped me find this opportunity?
I did a research project on the idea of advancing in technologies and whether it was good or bad and thought about the idea of fixing the issue.

Regulatory Change ~ Post-crisis issues remain; no time to relax
-where I found it: https://www.ey.com/en_us/banking-capital-markets/four-major-themes-dominating-the-regulatory-landscape-in-2020

-what leads me to believe that this info suggests an opportunity might exist:
there have been changes on many fronts but it hasn't still been possible to move on from crises due to reforms and policies that may still need to be implemented because of the crisis long after.

-who I think is most likely to be the customer with the opportunity:
everyone going through/went through crisis, gov officials

-is the opportunity relatively easy or difficult to exploit? why?
this is relatively difficult due to the fact that there have been efforts to solve this problem and its still not a possibility.

-why did I form the belief that an opportunity exists? is there something in experience that helped me find this opportunity?
I have witnessed tragedy and crisis in the past in our country and there are many reasons why we're still stuck on these crisis: we're not advancing in the department of relaxing before the next crisis comes